Like Father, Like Son
by WindBeneathMyWings0000
Summary: Summary: The bond between fathers and sons is sacred. It is cherished to most people. But to some, the bond is strained, almost forced. The gods have this issue with their children, mainly the Big Three. Will Hera fix that in the most unpredictable plan she's had yet? All rights reserved. I don't own the characters, Uncle Rick does, yadda yadda yadda. On with the story!
1. Chapter 1

Summary: The bond between fathers and sons is sacred. It is cherished to most people. But to some, the bond is strained, almost forced. The gods have this issue with their children, mainly the Big Three. Will Hera fix that in the most unpredictable plan she's had yet?

All rights reserved. I don't own the characters, Uncle Rick does, yadda yadda yadda. On with the story!

3rd Person Omniscient

Chapter 1: The Fight

The leaden sky bore down on Percy like he was doing Atlas' job again. The breeze rustled his hair as it brought the smell of the ocean to his nose. He smirked at the familiar smell. He couldn't help but wonder if it was Posiedon trying to make him feel better; although he knew that was unlikely. Percy sat on the dock with his legs bent in front of him, his hands dangling between his knees. He was just outside his cabin at Camp Half-Blood. Looking up at the sky, deep in thought, Percy sighed. This day just couldn't get more dreary.

Percy stared at the river. He counted the fish that swam by in his head, noticing the decrease in population. He'd have to tell everyone to stop fishing for awhile. A piece of driftwood floated by and Percy was actually bored enough to watch that too.

He hated these days. The days where everyone was off doing their own thing, leaving Percy by himself. Grover was with Juniper, Zeus-knows-where, in the woods. Annabeth shooed him away so she could continue reading her book. She never actually said 'go away', but it was implied:

"Hey, Annabeth, what's up?"

"Reading." She said, never taking her eyes off the book.

"Um, do you wanna do something?" Percy tried.

"Read."

"Do you want me to leave you alone?"

"If you want to." She replied, still never looking up.

"Okay, then."

And that's pretty much how the conversation went. Percy would never understand how Annabeth got so absorbed into books like that, let alone have the patience and be able to sit still long enough to read them. He barely had enough patience to count to ten!

Percy had tried hanging out with Frank and Hazel too, but he ended up being a third wheel pretty quickly. Leo was in Bunker Nine, and he just went ahead and assumed Jason and Piper were together, probably in New Rome.

Groaning quite loudly and obnoxiously, Percy threw himself on his back with his arms crossed behind his head onto the dock. Why did everyone have something to do but him? It was days like this he wished he could get a job doing something for his dad. At least then he would be busy.

"Hey, Percy."

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Percy screamed, jumping into the air from the unexpected noise. He had gone to grab for Riptide, but lost balance from his awkward footing, actually tripping over himself and falling off the dock. It isn't easy to go from lying down to standing on two feet in one jump.

At least, that was Percy's excuse in his head.

Underwater, he was able to clear his mind of the scare and once he did, he immediately blushed from embarrassment. Whoever had scared him was probably on the dock now laughing it up. Swallowing hard, Percy swam toward the surface. He saw an ebony-haired boy wearing a black Imagine Dragons t-shirt, black jeans, and black Converse. The boy was unnaturally pallid and looked way too thin. It didn't take much to know who this boy was. There was only one kid that could come from nowhere like that.

"Nico! How the heck do you always manage to sneak up on me like that?" Percy asked, treading water. He was trying to cover up his show, but it wasn't working, clearly. Nico was smiling like a fool. He was trying to hide it though, if only for Percy's sake.

"Skill. Practice. Your choice." Nico replied, rubbing the back of his head as if he was being humble. Nothing made him smile more than a flustered Percy. He put his hands in the pockets of his jeans, and turned his gaze to look out over the river.

Climbing back onto the dock, Percy sat with his legs in front of him and his arms supporting him from behind. He didn't want to admit it, but Percy was really glad the son of Hades was there. Now he had someone to talk to. The only problem was that Nico wasn't the biggest social butterfly and probably didn't want to chat. Percy tried to think of a way to get Nico to stay a bit and talk with him.

"Why don't you sit with me for awhile?" Percy tried not to plead. He flipped his hair out of his face and tried to get his cheeks back to their normal color. How could he have embarrassed himself that badly? He knew he was lucky though. Nico wouldn't go around telling everyone who'd listen to the story. That made talking to Nico pretty easy for Percy, even if Nico didn't really talk back. At this point, even someone who didn't like to talk much would be great company.

Percy could've sworn he saw Nico blush, but he ignored it when he heard his answer, "No, I was actually trying to find Haz-"

Fear of being left alone again, Percy interrupted Nico, "Just for a little while. Only until Annabeth finally realizes that reading is boring. C'mon..." Percy used his best pouty-face and even interlocked his fingers so they looked like one giant fist in front of him. It always worked on Annabeth...well...mostly.

Nico sighed, "Fine." Nico knew he'd regret his decision. He hadn't meant to have an extended conversation with Percy. He had said hi so he could ask him if he'd seen Hazel. She was with Frank somewhere and Nico thought that if anyone had seen her, it would've been Percy.

Now, Nico was stuck. If he didn't stay with the obviously attention-starved son of Poseidon, he'd just be cruel.

Accepting his fate, he sat cross-legged next to Percy, imitating his posture. Nico knew Percy hated being alone. Nico didn't mind it. The only irony here was that he didn't really want to be alone with Percy. What would they even talk about?

Nico looked out over the river, hoping it would inspire some kind of conversation between the two. He was only answered with ripples in the water and mirror images of the overcast sky above them. The dark hue of the sky made the river seem darker as well. Nico wondered if it was some sort of sign that maybe Zeus and Poseidon weren't in the best of moods at the moment.

"So," Percy said, trying to start a conversation and successfully interrupting Nico's thoughts. What could Percy say to force Nico to say more than three syllables, though? He decided to talk about something he'd been through himself, knowing it would encourage some sort of conversation, "I never really got a chance to ask you how you were doing. You know, after traveling through Tartarus by yourself and being kidnapped and then stuck in a jar and tortured and- I'm going to shut up now." Percy said when he noticed Nico's death glare.

Nico knew Percy didn't mean anything by it, but naming off all those things made Nico seem weak. It's not his fault he couldn't fight off Gaea's entire army and prevent being kidnapped! He had been trying to help find the Doors of Death!

Clenching his fists, Nico sighed. Percy could be really stupid about what he said sometimes. It was no wonder why Annabeth calls him seaweed brain. But there were multiple reasons for that...

"Uh...sorry. If you want to talk about it though..." Percy tried to cover for himself. He hoped he didn't make Nico mad. The last thing he needed was the son of Hades upset with him...again...

Nico sighed next to him, "You don't have to apologize. But no, I'm not going to 'talk' about it." Nico said with more venom in his voice than he meant. He shifted his body so that he was now just sitting cross-legged. He wondered if Percy even really knew him. If he did, he wouldn't have asked him to talk about his feelings. He would've known what the answer would've been.

"'Sup, guys?!" A voice was heard from behind. Both Percy and Nico jumped, but Percy found himself in the water again. Looking to his left, Nico saw Jason in all his blond Superman glory, looking proud. Had he really just pushed Percy in? That's hilarious.

Smiling, Nico silently thanked whatever god that sent him someone to keep the conversation going without it getting awkward again, even if Jason probably just pissed Percy off.

Jason smiled when he saw his cousin in the water.

Breaking the surface, Percy threw his arms up in exasperation, "That's it! I give up! I guess this whole camp can just sneak up on me whenever they feel like it." Percy complained as he pulled himself onto the dock, completely dry, for the second time.

"Two people hardly counts for the entire camp," Nico replied. "but it does mean you need to be on your guard a little better."

"Whatever. I saw you jump, death boy."

"Was that before or after you fell off the dock again?"

Percy's comeback caught in his throat when he heard Jason laugh behind them. He came over and sat down between Nico and Percy. Nico didn't know whether to be angry or grateful. Jason knew Nico's secret. Whether he was trying to help him or not, Nico couldn't figure it out.

"Nept-...Poseidon really should put railings here..." Jason added dangerously. Nico smiled as Percy glared. Jason took it in stride, "if only for your safety, Percy." Jason finished with a cocky grin on his face. He loved patronizing Percy. It was almost too easy.

Percy manipulated the water in the river so that it was currently swirling around him, threatening Jason to continue his mockery. Percy just wasn't in the mood for it right now.

"What was that, Grace?"

Jason's cocky smirk grew as he summoned lightning to bounce up and down his body as if he was made of rubber. If Percy wanted to play, Jason could play with him.

Nico got up and backed off. He didn't want to be in the middle of a 'let's-see-who-has-more-power' show. Then again, why not throw his two cents into the ring? Why is Zeus and Poseidon always getting all the fame? Hades is just as powerful, if not more so than the other two gods. How could someone beat summoning the dead? You can't. He was sick of hiding how powerful he really was.

Nico smiled as he spread his arms out and raised his hands palms up toward the sky. Black mist spewed from Nico's hands. The Earth shook as the ground beneath his feet cracked and split. Skeletons rose like cliché zombies from the broken earth. Nico's gut tightened as the last one finally surfaced.

During all this, Percy and Jason stared at Nico and his hidden power. They knew he was powerful, but they didn't know he was strong like this. Nico had always been quiet; never getting involved in Percy's and Jason's power battles. Why now?

The confusion didn't last long as Percy took the chance to soak Jason and Nico to the bone. He wouldn't hurt them, of course, but hey, the boys needed a bath. Percy frowned when he realized he didn't have any soap.

Jason shook the water off his face, making sure to keep the lightning in check. He didn't want to lose control and hurt Percy or Nico. There was, however, nothing wrong with a shock to their systems. Or a reminder of who the king of the gods was, and why.

It didn't take much for Nico to shadow travel out of the way of the water. He had watched Percy enough to know when he was about to strike, and when to get out of the way. Once reaching his destination behind the older boys, Nico let the black mist fall between the three, blinding the other two demigods.

Smiling to himself, Nico knew he just gained a huge one-up on his cousins. About to strike, Nico was frozen by a booming voice that sounded like boulders falling down a mountain. It was deep and very, very angry.

"Hey! What in Hades do you three think you're doing?" Dionysus appeared from seemingly nowhere. Nico panicked and prepared to shadow travel the hell out of there. He did not want to get in trouble. "If you're going to fight, you should've invited me first! I've been waiting a long time to see a fight between you three. It'll be just as good as watching the Big Three fight themselves!" Dionysus summoned a lawn chair and a diet Coke.

"Continue," he said once he was settled down and his Coke was opened. "once I explain the rules, of course. Because you are all three underage, sorta," he said, sending a quick glance Nico's way, who returned it with a glare, "you aren't allowed to use your powers. If you're gonna fight, you gotta do it schoolboy style." Dionysus muttered disappointingly. It was clear he wanted the boys to give it their all, but he didn't want to hear from Chiron about how 'irresponsible' he was.

The three cousins looked at each other. This just became a lot less fun. Well, for everyone but Percy. Whoever said schoolboys didn't use weapons? Pulling out Riptide in one quick gesture, he sliced the air beside Jason. Responding quickly, Jason pulled out Gladius, his gift from Juno, and Nico pulled out his blade. Dionysus only took a sip of his drink that he secretly spiked as he smiled.

Jason stabbed the air near Percy's head, actually chopping off a bit of hair. Dumbfounded by the contact, Percy stumbled before regaining his composure. Realizing what happened, he glowered at Jason, threatening him with every part of his being. Was Jason actually trying to hurt him? Well, two could play that game.

"Time for you to have another scar on your face, Grace." Percy said, ready to counter whatever Jason threw at him. Nico, holding Abbadon in a defensive stance, watched the interaction between Jason and Percy. He was confused.

'Were...were they actually mad?' He thought, wondering what had changed. This wasn't supposed to be an actual fight. It was a play fight, right?

Meanwhile, Jason surprised himself with coming so close to Percy's head. He hadn't meant it. He tried to apologize, but wasn't able too. He lost any regret he might have had when Percy threatened and lunged at him in return. It was totally uncalled for.

Percy charged Jason, Riptide ready to do what it does: Kill monsters. Jason blocked Percy's strike and tried to counter it with one of his own, but failed miserably. Percy was a hardened fighter. He knew what he was doing, as did Jason.

Jason had had enough dancing with Percy. Once Jackson spread his legs apart to try to lunge at him again, Jason took the opportunity to quickly move to the right of Percy's attack and use his spear to trip Percy.

Percy fell hard to the ground, surprise and the feeling- or lack of- air in his chest keeping him there. His arms were spread wide as if he was about to make a snow-angel. Riptide lied to his right, just out of reach.

Jason put his sword to Percy's chest, knowing now that he would have been the one to win the fight when Gaea had controlled them. Percy glared at him, too stubborn to admit he had nothing to defend himself with. Well, at least without using his powers.

Jason had forgotten all about Nico, who was not going to let Percy face this shame. Nico quickly ran forward and grabbed one of Jason's arms, effectively pulling him back enough so that he was no longer standing over Percy. Nico used the momentum to his advantage and was quick enough to have Jason fall right into his open arm. He used his right arm to wrap it around Jason's arms and chest so he couldn't move, and used his left to hold his stygian blade to Jason's throat.

Jason had dropped his spear in his shock of the sudden attack from behind. He hadn't realized what was happening until the son of Hades had him in a very bad position. Well, shit.

Percy got up from the ground, quickly grabbing Riptide. He stared at Nico, wondering why the younger boy had helped him, but wrote it off. He guessed he had seniority over Jason. At least...Nico had known Percy longer.

Jason didn't like where this was going. Thinking quickly, he elbowed Nico in the gut. He picked up his sword from the dirt, reeling around so that the three boys now stood in a triangle, their weapons ready. They eyeballed one another, daring each one to make the first move. Of course, none of them did. It was a stalemate.

About a yard away, Mr. D cleared his throat, quite obnoxiously, and said, "Well, this just got boring." His eyes flitted around for a second, as if he was looking for something, before disappearing. He left a sweet smelling grape aroma in his haste.

With the smell of grapes filling their senses, Percy, Jason, and Nico were looking from where Mr. D used to be and back to one another. Why had he left so suddenly?

Percy shook his head of the confusion. Now was his chance. Moving quickly so he didn't have a chance to stop him, Percy ran the five feet to Jason and kicked him in the gut. That would knock the breath out of him and give Percy some time to think about what to do next. He hadn't considered, however, that Jason was expecting something like this and would recover as quickly as he did.

From his kneeled position on the ground, Jason somersaulted through Percy's legs and stood up behind him. With Gladius, Jason used the butt of his sword to hit Percy in the back, effectively knocking him back to the ground.

Jason smiled, about to leap onto Percy, when Nico stopped him. It wasn't a threatening stop though. Nico simply grabbed his arm and spun him around to look in the direction he was pointing. What Nico was pointing at, however, was not something he wanted to see. Jason froze in his place, fear filling every one of his nerves. He dropped his sword to the ground, his hands shaking too much to hold on to it.

Nico let go of him and got Percy off the ground. Percy rubbed whatever part of his back that he could reach. His back was sore from Jason's hit, and he was trying to look cool about it, but he ended up looking like he was hugging himself.

Nico shook his head, hoping Percy would stop. He was relieved when he did. Percy gave Nico a confused look, and Nico spun him around the same way he did Jason. Percy, too, froze. He couldn't breathe and it felt like he made a mistake, although he didn't know what the mistake was yet.

Nico stood beside Percy, watching the two boys' reactions to what was in front of them. There was a reason Nico had stopped fighting after Jason had elbowed him in the stomach. He saw them before anyone else.

Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon stood before them in all their godly glory. Each one of them had a distinct, stern look on his face. Their eyebrows were furrowed and their mouths were set in a tight, disapproving frown. Their fists were clenched as if they were wondering whether or not to blast the boys.

Seeing their fathers so upset, Nico, Jason, and Percy all internally cringed. They didn't show it on the outside, but they were cowering under the hard glares from their all-powerful fathers.

It was a heavily silent staredown between the gods and their sons. No one said a word. The gods didn't know what to say about their sons' childish behavior, and the boys didn't dare speak.

The silence, however, was saying everything to the boys. Even without words, the gods were getting their message across. The silence was overwhelming, in a way. The demigods were almost praying (they weren't, though, because the gods they would be praying to were right in front of them) that the gods would say something.

Finally, Poseidon sighed. He didn't want to be the one to start this, but it was clear he'd have to.

"Perseus, I'm very disappointed in you." Were his only words. Percy, at hearing his full name and those words come from his father's mouth, looked at the ground. He studied the rocks and twigs, wondering what their story was and how they had ended up in that exact spot.

'Oh, damn it ADHD. You got me again.' Percy thought when he realized what he was doing. He looked back up at his father only to see the rigid look on his face. Percy bent his head in shame once again. He didn't understand what the big deal was. They were only sparring. Did that really instigate a visit from there dads?

"Perseus, you will look at me when I am speaking to you." Poseidon said, and Percy reluctantly looked back up at his father. He focused on Poseidon's forehead instead of his eyes. He didn't want to see his father's eyes and the glare they were probably sending him. "Percy, I understand you probably don't know why we're here,"

"I could tell them why we're here..." Hades muttered beside Poseidon, interrupting him.

Poseidon looked to his right and sighed exasperatedly, "Silence, brother. You will get your turn to speak." Ignoring Hades' glare, Poseidon turned his attention back to his son, "We're here because you three acted as fools. Zeus, Hades, and I are attempting to stop our juvenile arguments. It does no good to anyone. But then our own children begin to fight one another, and it makes it look as if we, indirectly, taught you that." Poseidon spoke calmly through his monologue. It definitely calmed Percy's nerves to know his dad wasn't too upset, he just wanted to explain the situation and ask him to stop. Yeah, Percy could definitely do that. But that didn't explain one thing.

"How did you know we were fighting?" Percy asked. It seemed, out of the three demigods, he was the only one brave enough to speak. Of course, he understood why Nico and Jason weren't talking. Zeus and Hades probably didn't have the best patience.

Poseidon opened his mouth to answer, but Hades beat him to the punch.

"Your lovely camp councilor was filming the whole thing. He was broadcasting it live on Hephaestus' channel for all of Olympus to see." Hades said, venom in his words. Percy couldn't tell who he was mad at, whether it was Dionysus for filming, Nico for fighting, or Hephaestus for having the channel at all. All he knew was that he felt horrible for Nico. He must be terrified.

"Oh." Percy replied to his uncle. He didn't know how to reply to that. He did know that he was pissed at Dionysus. He had to give him credit, however. The god was definitely crafty. Percy never noticed a video camera or anything from the drunk.

"Nico, what do you have to say for yourself? It isn't like you to pull this kind of stunt, although I suppose with your recent behavior, I should expect no more from you." Hades said to Nico. Nico visibly shook. Percy wanted to put a hand on his shoulder or something, but knew that probably wasn't what he should do right now. No, Nico would have to face his father alone. Percy could only hope the poor boy was used to that by now.

Nico was calculating his next sentence carefully. He knew one false word would be used against him. Nico's thoughts drifted from there, though. He hated how he couldn't talk to his father without thinking deeply about it first. He wished he could just speak without fear of his words being thrown back in his face; like the way Percy does with Poseidon. Nico sighed. Percy didn't understand how lucky he had it.

"Nico!" Hades shouted, pulling Nico out of his thoughts and back into reality. Nico looked at the ground and put his hands in his pockets so Hades wouldn't see him clench his fists.

"No. I don't have anything to say." Nico replied, making sure to keep his voice steady and even. He was fighting back angry tears. The truth was, he had a lot to say. So much to say, in fact, that his unsaid words were practically choking him. And he hated it. He was frustrated and angry with his father. He just wanted to go back to his cabin and let his frustrated tears out, because he knew there was nothing he could do about it. But he'd have to hold it in until later.

Hades sighed, knowing his son was just not talking to him again. Hades had no idea why Nico refused to tell him anything. It's not like he had told Nico not to come to him for anything. And Hades had tried to create a bond with the boy. He had even shown him Camp Jupiter and allowed Nico to be his second-in-command! Hell, he'd even given the boy his sword! Why Nico wouldn't talk to him, unless necessary, Hades may never know.

Zeus cleared his throat. What he was going to say to Jason was pretty much already used by his brothers. Instead, Zeus decided that scaring Jason into never doing something so foolish again would be better than words. It's like the mortals say: actions speak louder than words, right?

Summoning thunder to roar, Zeus threw a lightning bolt so close to Jason's side that Jason felt his hair stand up and his heart race. Jason watched as Zeus slowly walked up to him. Zeus kept his hands behind his back. When he got to Jason, he bent down so he could whisper in his ear.

"If you ever dare do something like this and embarrass me again, boy, I promise you I will not miss next time."

Jason shuddered at Zeus' words. Yes, his father had sent a lightning strike at him before, and Jason had been perfectly fine. But his father hadn't been trying to hurt him. He had been helping him save Piper and Leo from the giant. If Zeus intended to hurt him...Jason was to scared to think any more about it.

Zeus, seeing he got the desired reaction from Jason, joined his brothers once again, standing on Poseidon's left side. Zeus was peeved that he had to take care of this boy like this. It's not even like Jason was his son! Jason was Jupiter's son, which meant he was Jupiter's problem! But yet, Poseidon had dragged him along as well when he had decided to stop the boys. Poseidon had told him that, 'Jason is still his son, whether he's Greek or Roman, and he must honor that.'

Zeus rolled his eyes at his brother's stupidity.

"We're going back to Olympus. We expect that this fight is over, right?" Poseidon declared. He wasn't really asking the boys, he was demanding they say yes. Which, obviously, they all did. Well, they nodded, and Poseidon knew that that was just as good. He knew he could trust Percy to stop without his word.

On the other hand, Hades looked at Nico, waiting for his verbal word. He would not accept a head nod. That was not appropriate or respectful in any way.

Zeus waited for Jason to respond as well. He, too, would not accept a gesture that showed as much attitude as a head nod, especially when it looked as pathetic as it did. Jason didn't even look up to nod. He had stared at the ground. It was as if he was complying with Gaea herself.

Zeus marched over to Jason and grabbed his upper arm at the same time Hades grabbed Nico's. Both boys tried to pull out of their fathers' grasps, but failed miserably.

Nico's heart raced as he thought of all the things Hades could do to him at the moment. He wondered what exactly he did wrong, but then got angry at the answer his mind gave him.

Everything.

In Hades' mind, Nico probably didn't do anything right. That made him mad, and for the second time, his eyes filled with frustrated tears. Why was his father so hateful toward him? Couldn't he see that he was trying?

It didn't take much for Jason to figure out what Zeus wanted. As soon as the king of the gods grabbed him, Jason began apologizing out of pure fear.

"Don't apologize, boy, just speak. Don't give gestures to us. It's very disrespectful." Zeus told Jason. He said it much more harshly than he had meant, but he got his point across because Jason immediately apologized once again, then apologized for apologizing, then, once he gave up on that, he took a deep breath and just said yes. Zeus nodded, since he had the right to, but didn't let Jason go. He wanted to strike the fear of the gods in the boy just a bit more.

"Say yes, Nico." Hades growled to Nico after Zeus was done, daring Nico to disobey. Nico wanted to smile at what he thought to do next. He knew he'd get his ass whopped, but he had to do something to make Hades as angry as Nico was. It's not even like what he was about to do was horribly bad, it was just a smartass thing to do and Hades would see it as 'disrespectful'. Sighing at his own expense, Nico smiled and said,"Yes, Nico."

Hades' black eyes flashed red. The expression on his face was unreadable, but Nico knew that meant he was both shocked and angry at the same time. That couldn't be a good combination.

Hades blinked his eyes a few times, then his expression distorted into one of absolute anger. Not only had the boy disrespected him, but he had been smiling when he did it, which means he knew what he was doing! In one swift movement, with his eyebrows furrowed and an angry frown plastered to his face, Hades flipped Nico over his head and had him on his back on the ground, gasping for the air that was knocked out of him.

Nico lied on the ground, gasping from surprise and pain. Yes, he knew Hades would get mad, but not that mad. What a huge overreaction! Hades was now on top of him, holding Nico's own sword against his throat. Nico gulped. Hades wouldn't kill him...would he?

Percy watched in horror as the god of the Underworld threatened his own son's life. Percy wanted to help, but knew better than to charge at the god.

Jason was in the same boat as Percy. He felt horrible for Nico. After learning his darkest secret, Nico had opened up to Jason a little more. What choice had he had? Jason already knew the worst secret Nico had. Jason had learned that Nico envied the relationship Percy had with Poseidon, and wished he had the same with his father. Seeing the scene in front of him, Jason wondered if Nico would ever get what he wanted.

Hades cut Nico's throat enough to let blood trickle out. Nico actually found himself crying. He just didn't know what it was from. Pain? Fear? Anger? Who knew? What he did know was that he was clenching his fists, daring Hades in his own way to do it. To kill his son.

"That's enough, Hades!" A female voice cried out. Everyone turned toward the direction of the disembodied voice. It didn't take long for everyone, gods and demigods alike, to sigh in exasperation.

Hera.

"Get off that defenseless child immediately!" Hera ordered, dragging Hades off Nico and prying Nico's sword from Hades' hands. She, however, didn't give it back to Nico. She deemed that dangerous, as well. "You are all acting ridiculous! This family is completely broken! None of you care for each other in any way!"

Hera stopped shouting and took a deep breath. Once she was calmed down, she looked at all the gods and demigods. Each one of them was stunned into silence. Good. She didn't want them to speak, anyway.

"I have a plan-" she began, but was quickly interrupted by Poseidon's son.

"Hera, no! Seriously? C'mon! I've had enough of your plans! Can't I just live my life?!" Percy exclaimed, his arms waving through the air to exaggerate his predicament. Hera rolled her eyes. The boy acts as if she has ruined his life. She hasn't done anything bad to him.

"As I was saying," Hera started again, "I have a plan to bring you six together. Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon, I'm going to force you to care about your sons if it's the last thing I do. I know they want you to. As goddess of family, I will bond you six or I will die trying!"

Hera shouted toward the end, dramatically lifting her arms over her head as if she was going to throw something at them. She disappeared in a bright flash of light, making sure to blind the six before she left. Once she was gone, everyone looked at one another before each of them blacked out, leaving themselves at Hera's mercy.

A/N: Hi guys! No, I'm not dead, I just got writer's block...for a year...yikes. So, to clear it, I made this! Sooooo...please please please review! I love reviews and favorites and follows and all that. They make my day! Let me know if I should continue this. I never come across stories in his fandom about the dads bonding with their sons, so I decided to make a story of it of my own. And poor Percy. He has to deal with Hera again. *sigh*. That is total bad news bears. Oh well. Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Thank you to all of you who reviewed, followed, and favorited the story! I love all of you. It's way too cliché for my tastes to go on and on about being humble, so I'm just going to move on.

I just wanted to say that everyone may get a little OOC in this, but I'm doing my best to keep them in character. I'd really appreciate it if you could let me know how I'm doing with that throughout the story.

Also, the points of view switch around erratically. It could be in first person (although that's rare) or third. I update randomly too. Between work and high school, I'm pretty busy. But you don't care about that, so let's get into what you do care about (hopefully): the story!

Last Chapter: Percy, Jason, and Nico battled against one another in an indirect effort to see who was more powerful. Little did they know that Dionysus was filming it and airing it for all of Olympus to see, knowing that it would cause the Big Three to become upset with their sons. After some disciplining from the gods, Nico decides to let his anger towards Hades (and the world, I suppose) out in a way he didn't think would cause Hades to attack him. Hera comes to Nico's rescue, but with a cost. She has rendered our beloved gods and demigods unconscious and has done something (you don't know what, yet) to them in an effort to finally get the gods to truly care for their sons. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3rd Person Omniscient

Poseidon and Percy

Percy groaned in protest as he opened his eyes. The bright, blinding light that hit his sea-green irises burned. He immediately shut them again, hoping to ward off the light before he really did lose his eyesight. He thought of the time he first met Apollo. His teeth had gotten the same reaction from Percy, and that's when Percy decided to not look directly at the god's smile.

Percy gave himself the same rule for the sun.

Keeping his eyes closed, Percy rolled over from his back to his stomach. He hoped it would block the sun somewhat, but all it accomplished was his stomach planting itself on a rock. Groaning once again, Percy rolled back onto his back, accepting that his eyes were going to suffer the consequences.

"Percy. Percy, wake up. Open your eyes, son." Percy felt his body shaking gently. Someone was trying to wake him up, that much was clear. Percy rebelled against this person though, keeping his eyes firmly closed. He'd like to keep his eyesight, thank you very much.

Meanwhile, Poseidon sighed. He knew Percy was awake. He just didn't want to actually get up. Thinking about it, however, Poseidon decided it might be okay to let Percy sleep a bit longer. It was delaying the inevitable realization, but that was okay. Poseidon didn't want his son to open his eyes and see their surroundings, anyway.

They were in a desert. Dry, dry sand stretched for miles. How many, Poseidon couldn't tell. Even looking at the horizon in all directions, it was only sand and dunes of sand. Poseidon knew why Hera had sent him and Percy to a desert. Their powers were completely useless. How could one use water powers if there was no water around?

Poseidon sighed, annoyed. 'Hades damn you, Hera.' He thought. He then chastised himself. He knew he shouldn't be cursing Hera's name; her intentions were good, he supposed. But still. There was a better way than this.

During Poseidon's inner rant, Percy decided it was high time to open his eyes. He couldn't keep them closed forever. Groaning with agitation, Percy slowly opened his eyes...only to immediately shut them again.

"Aw, frick." He mumbled to himself, not knowing that Poseidon heard him. 'Why was it way brighter than it should be?' Percy thought.

He sat up and rubbed his eyes, hoping they would adjust quickly and not be permanently damaged. Trying to open them again, Percy blinked a few times before he could see clearly.

'Oh, that's why.' Percy commented in his mind as he looked at the bright, white sand before him. Where was he? This certainly wasn't Camp Half-Blood. The only sand there was on the beach near his cabin, but the sand at camp wasn't white and there was no ocean around like there should be. In fact, from what Percy could see, there was no water around at all. Percy's throat felt dry. He knew it was mental, that he couldn't be dehydrated yet, but just the thought of nothing around to drink was getting to him.

"Percy, you're awake." Poseidon addressed hoarsely. Percy quickly turned his head to the sound of his father's voice. Poseidon was sitting in the sand with his legs out in front of him. His hands were bracing his weight behind him. The pose was very similar to the one Percy had on the dock before Nico came along.

'If Poseidon's here, I wonder if Nico is too.' Percy thought. He began to wonder who all was here. Was it everybody? Or just him and his dad? Were they supposed to find everybody?

"Are you all right, son?" Poseidon asked after Percy hadn't answered. Was the boy delusional already? He knew eventually they would be forced to deal with the symptoms of dehydration, but certainly not this early.

Percy only nodded his head as he continued to absent-mindedly stare at Poseidon. Growing uncomfortable under Percy's relentless gaze, Poseidon stood up and brushed the sand off himself. He then offered his hand to Percy, who took it and stood up as well. He didn't bother with the sand, however. He had a feeling they were both going to get sand in bad places.

"Well, nothing's going to happen if we just sit here. The first thing we need to do is find water." Poseidon told Percy.

"But I don't sense any water around here. At all. Not even underground." Percy replied. Poseidon sighed. Leave it to Percy to point out the obvious. The boy didn't even try to be optimistic.

"I realize that, Percy. We'll have to combine powers if we wish to find water. Unless you wish to die of dehydration in three days,"

Percy shook his head vigorously at that.

"Then we need to get moving. The clock's ticking for both of us, son." Poseidon finished and set off. Percy trailed after him.

"Hey, uh, Dad, did you notice that we were wearing the same thing?" Percy asked awkwardly beside Poseidon. Poseidon answered with a sigh. He looked down at his white v-neck t-shirt and white shorts. They were given sandles as well, although not flip-flops like Poseidon would have sandals were just so they wouldn't burn their feet on the sand, he knew. Of course he had noticed they were wearing the same thing. It was probably Hera's design, symbolized unity, or whatever.

"Yes, Percy, I noticed." He replied bitterly.

"It's kinda creepy to think that Hera dressed us. That means she took off our clothes..." Percy shuddered. The last thing he wanted to do was think about that. He vowed that when he got back, he would have Annabeth undress him just so he could be rid of Hera's cooties.

"She probably got Aphrodite to magically do it. Who knows how long we were unconscious or what happened during the time that we were?" Poseidon began to ask himself. Percy thought his dad was asking him, however. The questions were rhetorical, Percy could tell, so he didn't bother to answer.

The two walked on in silence. Percy was embarrassed that he kept tripping over himself trying to keep pace with Poseidon. It was like walking at the beach. Down by the water, the sand was nice and cool and easy to walk on because it was packed and wet. However, up near the boardwalk was like walking on molten lava. It was burning hot and hard to walk on because the sand collapsed under your weight, leaving you to pretty much claw your way out and move slower. It made you do more work to make up for the lost distance, tiring you out more quickly. That's how walking in the desert was.

Poseidon seemed to be skilled at walking on molten lava, however, something Percy wasn't very good at.

It had only been half an hour, he was sure, but Percy felt like he was melting. The heat from the unmerciful, blazing sun was doing it's number. He had already sweat through his clothes, and now the sweat was dripping down his forehead into his eyes.

'C'mon eyebrows and eyelashes! Isn't it your job to keep that stuff out of my eyes? What're you there for? To make me look pretty?' Percy thought to himself. Wiping the sweat from his forehead and eyes, Percy stopped walking and squinted as he looked over the desert.

Poseidon immediately noticed Percy had stopped walking and turned around to face his son.

"Percy-"

"I'm tired and hot. Can't we rest?" Percy practically begged his father. He saw that Poseidon wasn't much better off than he, himself, was. Poseidon's eyes were red from rubbing at them, probably because of sweat, too. He was already beginning to get a sunburn, Percy could tell. That meant he probably was too. Poseidon's lips were dry and chapped from thirst. If Percy could play up to all that, and make Poseidon realize how tired he probably was, Percy might just be able to get a break.

"I'm dying of thirst and you probably are too, so plea-" Percy tried, but was interrupted.

"No, Percy. Yes, I am tired, hot, and thirsty too. But we can't rest. It's clear we won't be finding any water, so I'm going for the next thing on the list: shelter. It may be hot now, but when Apollo decides he's had enough of daytime, this desert is going to get cold. Very cold. And our lovely benefactor has left us with nothing more than t-shirts and shorts."

"How is shelter going to protect us from the temperature? Does it come with a heater? Or better yet, a portable fan? Or maybe one of those spray bottles that has a fan with it! Or maybe-"

"Percy, stop. Shelter will help, believe it or not. Don't ask me how, because I have no idea." Poseidon informed, annoyed that Percy could still, against all odds, be a cocky smartass. The boy did need to learn respect. "Now let's go." Poseidon ordered as he turned on his heel and began his tread up a dune. He heard Percy sigh with frustration behind him, but ignored it. This was going to be a long adventure if the boy kept up his attitude.

Zeus and Jason

Jason thought his eyes were open, so he blinked a few times just to confirm it. They definitely were. Fear ran through his veins when he thought that he might be blind. What if he could never see anything again? What if he could never see clouds or the blue sky or even his future kids being born or taking their first steps? All he could see was darkness now, and it was consuming him and almost suffocating him.

He began to hyperventilate.

"Jason, knock it off, boy!" Jason heard a familiar voice call through the darkness. Well, at least he wasn't deaf.

"Who's there?" Jason asked, reaching for his sword before realizing he didn't have it. Did he drop it? Yes. Yes he must've. Man, Juno was going to be pissed.

"You're father, idiot. Now come over here and help me move these rocks. They're blocking our way out of here."

Jason was confused by what his father said. Move those rocks? What the hell was he talking about? Jason sat up and when his hands touched the ground, he knew something wasn't right.

He couldn't see anything, but the ground felt hard and bumpy. There were cracks here and there, and the ground was certainly cold to the touch. As he felt around, dust, or something close to it, began collecting on Jason's fingers. Jason wiped off the ashy stuff on his pants.

He then felt behind him and realized there was a wall about six inches away from him. Feeling it as well, he noticed that the wall of the chamber was made of the same rocky material as the floor. It pertruded out in some places, almost like a hump, and Jason hoped that he didn't break any fingers on it when it did.

"Jason, c'mon." Jason heard Zeus again. His voice echoed, for whatever reason, but Jason ignored that. He slowly crawled over to where he thought he heard Zeus' voice come from.

"I'm not much help if I can't see." Jason pointed out. He heard Zeus sigh in annoyance. Great. The lightning god was already frustrated with him and he'd hardly said ten words to the guy. What had he said that was so irksome, anyway?

Jason felt a hand on his shoulder and, after a jolt of muscle-spasm-inducing electricity, he could see. Jason blinked a few times before looking around. Had Zeus just given him night vision? That is so cool!

Focusing again, Jason saw that they were in a cave. A very large cave. He saw stalagmites hanging from the ceiling, almost threatening to fall and pierce his body. He noted to stay out from under those. He saw some kind of glowing blue fungus growing on the walls, and he was glad he hadn't accidently touched that earlier. He wondered how deep underground the cave went. He decided that he didn't want to find out the hard way.

"Boy, stop taking in the scene and help me!" Zeus ordered for the third time. Flinching, Jason got up from his embarrassing crawling position on the ground and stood next to Zeus. Jason saw a cave-in of rocks, that Zeus was currently trying to move one by one, and almost smirked. Almost. Even if that was the way out of this cave, there was no way they could move all those rocks without either A) making another cave-in, or B) killing themselves. The rocks had to weigh a ton.

"Zeus, I don't think that-" Jason attempted to talk some sense into his obviously delusional, desperate father, but to no avail.

"No one needs your negativity, boy." Zeus interrupted. But it seemed Jason's words had to have some effect, because Zeus stopped trying to lift a rock and just stood with his hands on his hips, pretty much panting.

Jason felt for his father. He understood his desire to see the sky again. But did it make him this desperate? How long before Zeus went nuts? Jason decided that he'd only think of Zeus in his Greek form so he didn't add on to the craziness. He didn't really consider himself Roman anymore, anyway.

Zeus sighed, giving up on the wall of rocks blocking their path to freedom. He sat down on one of the rocks he had moved and let his hands dangle between his knees. His the hell were they going to get out of here alive? Who knew what was in this cave? Who knew how deep it went or what lied beyond the entrance?

"Freaking great." Zeus mumbled, censoring himself for the boy's sake, even if the boy probably did curse more than he did.

Jason sighed as well. His, however, was from relief that Zeus had enough sense to stop on the wall thing. But now, he just looked troubled.

"Look, if there's anything I learned from Journey to the Center of the Earth, it's that there's always another way out of a cave. Maybe we'll get lucky and be in an abandoned mineshaft, too." Jason said, hoping to add some optimism. Zeus looked up at him and cocked an eyebrow.

"This isn't a kids' movie, kid. This is reality. In reality, we don't get abandoned mineshafts that just so happen to have minecarts and working electricity. In reality, we don't get a world in the center of the earth; we get lava. In reality, we don't blow up out of a volcano to freedom. In reality-"

"Okay, I get it. Just trying to be the optimistic one. You didn't have to crush my spirit." Jason mumbled the last sentence to himself. He knew they wouldn't get all of that. He was just trying to cheer Zeus up. He'll make sure not to try that again. "Look, if you're dead set on getting those rocks out of the way instead of going deeper into the cave, why don't you just blow up the rocks with your powers?" Jason asked.

"Because Hera took my powers away." Zeus replied, brokenhearted. "Don't you think I would've already tried that?"

"Oh." Jason replied. That's the only thing he could think to say. What was he supposed to say?

Zeus sighed. "You're right. There's always multiple entrances to these things. If we can find one, we can get out."

Glad that Zeus wasn't going to mourn the loss of his powers, Jason perked up, "Do you think the others are in here?"

"I couldn't tell you. Probably not. If I know Hera, she's put us all in vulnerable positions. She wouldn't put Hades and Nico underground, anyway. They'd be just fine.

"No, she put us in a cave where we can't fly or anything of the sort because of the stalagmites. You can't really stop lightning, so she just took that power away completely. Poseidon and his son are probably somewhere without water around so she wouldn't have to waste energy on taking their powers away. As for Hades and his spawn, I couldn't tell you." Zeus informed. Jason was impressed.

"You really have Hera figured out." He said.

"She's my wife."

"Right." Jason said, smiling at the irony that Zeus knew so much about Hera, and probably loved her, yet continued to cheat on her every chance he got.

"Are you implying something, boy?" Zeus asked angrily, catching the smirk on his son's face.

"Not at all. So, should we get looking for our exit?" Jason asked, not letting his smile falter at all. He gestured deeper into the cave in an 'after you' way. Zeus glared at Jason, but got up and trailed deeper into the cave with Jason at his heels.

Hades and Nico

Rain drizzled over his face, making Nico open his eyes, alarmed. Rubbing them like a child, it didn't take long at all for his vision to become clear. Nico immediately looked himself over, deciding that was the best thing to do. He looked for lacerations, bruises, broken bones, anything at all that would be alarming. Other than his neck still having a slight sting where his fath...where Hades had cut him, he was fine. Well, at least he had his health. Judging from his surroundings, that seemed to be the only thing he did had.

Nico didn't know where he was, and he didn't like it one bit. He was in an eerie, rundown old city. A big city, from the looks of it. The buildings had ivy growing on and in them. There were places on the buildings were the walls were missing and he could see the inside. One building in particular was leaning very precautiously over a cliff with the waves of the ocean crashing against some sharp rocks at the bottom.

It was like a scene from a horror movie, and Nico caught himself smiling at the irony. If this was all Hera had, dumping him alone in a big, obviously abandoned and rundown, city, than Nico lost a lot of respect for her, not that he had much to begin with. Was she only trying to scare him? How lame. She did a horrible job at it. The only things that scared Nico, well, he had faced them and conquered them. There wasn't much that could scare him now, especially not a bunch of eerie buildings.

"Wow. She failed." He muttered to himself. Wiping the rain from his eyes, Nico got up off the ground and decided he needed to find shelter from the rain before he caught a cold. He stuck his hands in the pockets of his black jeans and looked around. The only shelter he saw was the buildings, but he couldn't get into any of them. For whatever reason, all the doors were locked from the inside.

After the fifth building he tried, Nico got annoyed. How is it that all of them were locked? They were abandoned and had ivy growing in them! Hell, he could even see grass on the carpet throuh a crater in the wall in one of them! Was someone afraid of a break-in?

Nico found a window relatively low enough for him to see inside. He pulled himself up on the windowsill and pressed his face to the glass to get a look inside.

The building looked like an old office. It had cubicles set up and even a water cooler in the corner (clearly with no water). One of the walls of the cubicles was decorated with a bunch of children's drawings depicting a typical family. The desk had a picture of the family and a framed note that read, 'I love you mommy' in a kindergartener's handwriting.

Nico rolled his eyes. How childish. He found himself longing for that kind of lifestyle, however. A lifestyle where he knew he was loved enough for his childish drawings to be displayed proudly on a parent's desk at work. He realized he was envying a five-year-old, and rolled his eyes at himself.

Thankful for the rain now because it was covering up his tears, Nico looked to the right inside the building and saw that the door was barricaded from the inside. The doors weren't locked after all. But why would someone have barricaded the door? And with a copy machine, a couch, a file cabinet, and a desk? Who...or what...were they trying to keep out? Thunder roared, making Nico jump.

Becoming a little apprehensive, Nico jumped off the windowsill back onto the street he had been on. He looked around, but saw no signs of life anywhere. He shook his head, deciding he was being paranoid. The cclouds overhead were so dark that Nico wondered if the storm was permanently there. He knew it was night time, however. If he was right, probably the middle of the night.

He walked up the street with his hands in his pockets again. The only light offered to him was the flashing of lightning that he saw every now and then. After only about two minutes, he saw a street sign.

"Fortieth street. Well, thank you, street sign, for that useless information." Nico continued walking until he came to a broken road, choosing to ignore the supposed Biblical meaning of the number forty. The road was split in half, the part in front of him sticking up, almost at a ninety degree angle.

"Guess I'm not going that way." He figured, and turned to his left. He wondered what could've caused the road to do that, but decided that would be a bad idea. He would only scare himself if he dwelled on it.

Nico came to a concrete road block and climbed over it. He was now on a bridge, a highway from what he could tell. The buildings were still looming over him, almost like they were dreading what was coming next. He walked to the end of the highway, and saw that he was now on the top half of the broken road from earlier.

Turning around, he walked to a small, broken concrete shack with no roof. He jumped over a broken-off part of a wall and continued his tread through the rain and muck.

When he walked halfway to the end of another broken road, Nico threw his hands up in exasperation, "Seriously? Another one? Can I go anywhere in this giant city?" Nico then almost slapped himself with one of his raised hands. Of course he can go somewhere. He can go anywhere he pleases.

Nico let the familiar black mist engulf him, fully prepared to shadow travel to Camp Half-Blood. When he opened his eyes and saw he was in the same place, he wanted to cry.

'Hera took my powers away? But how can that be?' Sighing, Nico simply walked to the end of the broken road and sat on its edge. He looked down and saw a giant crater beneath him. Was this place hit by a meteor? That would explain a lot, but not the barricaded doors.

"I wouldn't sit on that. It could crumble."

Nico jumped at the voice, almost falling into the abyss. He steadied himself on the concrete, and turned around to see his father leaning against one of the concrete road blocks. Nico vowed to never sneak up on anyone again. It just wasn't that much fun anymore.

After the relief of seeing someone else, Nico got mad that it was Hades. It could've been literally anyone else in the world. Literally anyone. He would've taken Clarisse.

"How long have you been watching me?" Nico asked, deciding that starting a fight wasn't the way to go.

"Since you woke up. When you did something stupid, I decided it was high-time I made an appearance."Hades said, frowning.

"Aren't you noble." Nico muttered to himself.

"C'mon, boy, we need to get out of this rain."

Instead of telling Hades he knew that, he decided to just let him believe he had thought of it. Again, playing the submissive, un-argumentative roll was better than fighting with the god. Nico knew better than that, now.

Nico got up and stalked over to where Hades was standing. Right when he got to him, they heard a giant crash come from one of the alleyways across the street diagonally from them, paralyzing them to the spot. A trashcan came flying out, and something started screaming. It was inhuman scream, definitely blood-curdling. It was like a mixture of a scream and a roar.

But as soon as it started, it stopped, and the duo were thrown back into the sounds of the rain hitting the pavement and the thunder rumbling overhead once again.

Hades stared in disbelief at the alleyway. Never had he heard a sound like that. And the thing didn't even show itself, which was almost worse. If it had, at least he would've known what was watching them.

Nico trembled where he stood. He let himself believe it was from the chill of the rain and night air, but knew that wasn't true. No, he was scared.

"Ha-Hades, wh-what the hell was that?" Nico asked his father. He was impressed with himself that he could still speak.

"I don't know, but I don't want to stick around to find out. Let's go, boy." Hades replied, still looking at the alleyway,waiting for the creature to make an appearance. Realizing it wouldn't be in their best interest if it did, considering they had no weapons or powers, Hades tore his gaze from the alleyway and walked in the direction of one of the buildings; the one that was perched over the side of the cliff.

"I don't think that we should-" Nico spoke up, deciding it was better to get yelled at than go in that deathtrap.

"I know. But we can't get into any of the others and this one has a hole in the wall we can reach. Now c'mon, unless you want to wait around for that thing, I'd hate to see what it would do to your face." Hades replied, knowing it would make Nico move.

It had its desired effect, and Nico gulped as he ran to catch up. He walked beside Hades, hating that he was scared enough to do so. When they reached the building, they saw that it was partially buried underground, probably due to a landslide. The hole they would be going through to get inside actually led to the third story of the building (which had about twenty, by the way). Hades jumped to try and grab the ledge, but it was too high. Sighing, he knew what he'd have to do.

"All right, boy, I'm going to boost you up. Do you think you could lift me inside as well?"

"I don't know. I'm still kind of weak from Tartarus..." Nico replied, ashamed. Damn Hades. Why did he have to constantly remind him that he was a weakling?

"Then find something to get me up. A rope or something similar. Think you can handle that?"

Nico scoffed and nodded begrudgingly, glaring at his father. Hades leaned against the wall for support, ignoring the offended look on Nico's face, and interlocked his fingers so that Nico could step on them and pull himself up. Nico took a running start, hoping to 'accidentally' kick Hades' face as he was thrown toward the ledge. Disappointed that he missed his father's head completely and banged his foot against the brick building instead, Nico grabbed the ledge and pulled himself inside the building.

Once inside, he saw the same desks and cubicles from across the street in the other building. So this was an office as well. What was this, the business district of the city? Nico stepped over the grass growing in the carpet and looked around for a rope. He could hardly see, the only light was being provided by the lightning. And believe it or not, it was darker inside the building.

"See anything?" Hades asked, constantly looking over his shoulder for the beast. For anything, really.

"No." Nico replied, still searching.

"Well, hurry." Hades said, hoping this didn't go on much longer. He didn't want to be left alone down there on the street. He was wringing his hands and scratching his neck with anxiety.

In the building, Nico gave up on searching for a rope. He had looked in the desk drawers, including the ones barricading the doors to the hallway. Instead, he was using all his strength to push one of the desks down to Hades so he could just use it as a boost.

Nico pushed the desk off the side of the building. He watched it fall, and smiled at Hades' expression when he looked up to see a desk coming at him. Pure reflex and instinct took over, and Hades jumped out of the way and glared at Nico.

"You did that on purpose." He said through his teeth.

"I can't control where it falls." Nico replied, shrugging. Deciding to put a pin in this, Hades moved the wooden desk against the wall and stood it up. One of the legs broke from the impact with the ground, so he'd have to be careful.

Climbing with ease and pulling himself into the building, Hades looked around at his surroundings.

"This isn't foreboding in any way." He said to himself, although knew Nico heard him. He wanted the boy to be scared. He deserved to be.

"Thanks for that. So what now?" Nico said bitterly.

"Now we search. We need materials." Hades said, and started looking around the room. Nico just awkwardly followed him, not knowing what to look for.

They stayed in that room for about an hour, knowing that soon they'd have to disassemble the barricade blocking the door and head deeper into the collasping building.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A/N: I'll be spending a little more time on Hades and Nico, because, let's face it, they need more help and their story is a little more complex than the others. Also, I've been censoring myself for the sake of younger readers, but I would like to have your guys' permission to write the more gory scenes and cussing. I don't want to offend anyone. If I have to, I'll write warnings in before them for the faint of heart.

Anyway, review!

Wind, out.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Anyone finish Blood of Olympus yet? If no, well, all I've got to say is this: YOU'VE HAD PLENTY OF TIME. The series may be over but it will never be dead. We'll keep the world of Percy Jackson alive with fanfiction. Am I right? With that being said, don't forget to review this one. Man...it was really hard not to write spoilers for BOO in this...**

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><p>Poseidon and Percy<p>

The sun was beginning to set, and Poseidon was only growing more worried the lower it got. His gut clenched at the thought of finding absolutely nothing. They had been walking all day through the parlous desert and hadn't even found something as simple as a cactus. Not even shrubs. If they had found a cactus, Poseidon knew he could've at least gotten some water from it, but no. No, Hera had not provided the luxury of water. Whether she was being ironic or not, Poseidon didn't know nor did he care. The only thing he did know was that he was going to make sure Hera went without water just as long as they did. She was going to suffer.

As he was thinking of punishments very similar to Tantalus', Poseidon's mind thought of something that almost made him stop walking. Did Hera intend to kill them? Poseidon denied his own question, knowing she would never go that far. If they got desperate, he was sure Hera would help them in some way.

Then again...

He could see his veins in his arms, a clear sign of dehydration. His vision blurred now and then and the dryness in his throat and mouth were irritating. He wasn't used to this feeling; being lethargic and thirsty. He'd never had to deal with being thirsty before. He didn't like it. He couldn't even salvage up any saliva to drink anymore.

Poseidon stopped walking on top of one of the sand dunes. He surveyed the area, although not much had changed. There was nothing but sand and sun. The sand was already frustrating enough to walk in (not to mention the temperature of it), and the sun made it ten times worse. The sun was the true enemy at the moment.

"Hey, Dad, ready to give up on this whole 'shelter' thing yet?" Poseidon heard Percy moan behind him, interrupting his musings. Percy was squinting at the sand. He had an arm up to shelter his eyes from the sun, even though he knew it wouldn't do him much good. The boy looked like he wasn't much better off than Poseidon was. Poseidon could see Percy's veins as well. His skin was, somehow, more pale than usual. It looked almost transparent.

But Poseidon didn't care about any of that. The one thing about Percy that he noticed made his heart clinch with guilt. Percy wasn't sweating anymore. That meant his body was running out of water a lot faster than Poseidon's.

Poseidon sighed, but from what, he didn't know. It wasn't annoyance at the question. He felt for the boy. He had to admit, Percy had done well for the circumstances. He didn't complain as much as Poseidon would've originally thought. Percy had taken it all in stride...for the most part.

But the day was ending and both of their energy levels were running low. They were tired, exhausted really, and thirsty. They couldn't really say they were hot anymore, considering the temperature had dropped about thirty degrees. It was probably in the low seventies, and Poseidon knew they were running out of time to find a place to keep warm.

Poseidon sighed at Percy's earlier question again. He didn't know what to say or do. With no shelter or fire, they surely wouldn't make it through the night. Poseidon was mad at himself, though, and that anger was getting in the way of most of his thinking. Yeah, Hera royally screwed them over and she deserved his indignation, but he should at least have the survival skills to cope and be able to provide for Percy in a time like this.

"No, Percy, I haven't given up on the idea of shelter and neither should you." Poseidon replied as he turned around to face Percy, hoping his frustration with everything wasn't showing in his voice.

Meanwhile, Percy had heard something strange in Poseidon's tone; something he wasn't used to hearing in his father's voice. Anger? No, no Poseidon had nothing to be angry with. Well, he did, but worse things have happened. Hera had wiped Percy's memory clean and stuck him in practically a different world! If Poseidon got mad about this, then he gets mad easier than Percy thought.

Or maybe Poseidon is just annoyed with Percy. The boy couldn't think of what he had done. The only thing that might have annoyed Poseidon was when Percy had started singing Under the Sea from The Little Mermaid. Other than that, Percy had been good. The singing thing had been hours ago, so surely Poseidon wasn't still mad about it.

There had to be another reason his father was upset, and Percy was determined to figure out why.

"C'mon, let's keep walking." Poseidon instructed, and Percy followed, well...slid down the dune after him.

"Uh, Dad? Is something wrong?" Percy asked nervously. He didn't know how Poseidon would respond. Maybe he just wasn't in the mood to talk and Percy was over-thinking this whole 'tone' thing. And what kind of question was that, anyway? Of course something was wrong. They were in a desert for crying out loud.

Just as Percy was beginning to feel like an idiot for asking the stupid question, Poseidon spoke up, "Before you get into this, I'm not upset with you, son. Actually, I'm quite proud of how well you are taking all of this."

"But..." Percy added, gesturing with his hands for Poseidon to keep talking. Poseidon sighed and clenched and unclenched his fists.

"But...well...Hera,"

"Say no more, Father. I have been there and done that. I know how you feel, believe me." Percy interrupted as obnoxiously as he could. He rolled his sea-green eyes at Hera. One day she was going to get her just desserts, and by pissing off the Big Three, she probably just cemented that.

"Percy..." Percy heard Poseidon mutter. He was nervous about something, that much was clear. Percy felt bad for Poseidon. He had never had to deal with Hera's crap like Percy did. He dealt with her crap in other ways, never being on the receiving end of her antics. Now she's turned Poseidon's world upside down and Percy wanted to kick her godly butt for doing this to his dad.

"Yeah?" Percy answered, waiting for Poseidon to continue. Poseidon took a deep breath and continued,

"What do you think we should do?" His voice was barely above a whisper. Poseidon was staring at the sand under his feet. He was wringing his hands anxiously. Percy knew he must be nervous about nightfall, which, by the looks of it, was going to be soon.

Seeing his dad so distressed, Percy swore he'd make Hera pay. But for now, he needed to keep both their spirits up. He was good at that; making people laugh during hard times on quests. Those times were always the most memorable. To Percy, they were the best times on quests. Like the 'dam' fiasco. He knew he'd never forget that. And when Jason had been playing the radio on the Argo on one of the days they got to relax. Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys had come on and Leo had busted in, completely on fire, screaming the song at the top of his lungs. Percy didn't stop laughing until the next day, although Frank hadn't found it so funny.

"Percy?" Poseidon shook his shoulder. Percy blinked his eyes a few times, coming out of his memories. He realized he had a stupid smile plastered on his face.

"Sorry, Dad, I was just...remembering some good times from past quests. That's what I do in hard times. Either try to make people laugh or remember the good times. Do you have any funny stories from Olympus?" Percy asked. He had a secret reason for asking. Yes, he was curious, but he also wanted Poseidon to think of funny things and smile himself.

Poseidon forced his legs to walk. He was weak and stumbling a little, but he was still moving, which in his book meant he was fine. Percy was right at his side now instead of behind him. He clearly wanted to hear of the asinine antics the gods were capable of.

Percy was looking at him, his eyes big and pleading. Poseidon looked at his son, only noticing the effects of dehydration written all over Percy's body. Poseidon felt his heart clench with guilt again, and decided to give Percy the stories he was begging to hear, if only to make him feel better.

"Well, there was this one time Apollo got bored, like he easily does at the meetings, and decided to make some fun for himself."

"Uh oh." Percy commented, smiling in anticipation as he thought of the sun god tapping his foot monotonously. He pictured Apollo with one elbow leaning on the arm rest of his throne with his chin in his hand, wondering how to make everything a bit more interesting as Zeus' voice rang through the throne room in the background.

"So what better way to have fun than to mess with Zeus? Apollo used his finger to shine a light in Zeus' eyes whenever he wasn't looking at Apollo. Zeus got so upset that he began to question everyone in the throne room. I suppose it finally clicked who the only one it could've been, and Zeus marched over to Apollo demanding an explanation and an apology."

"Pissing Zeus off? C'mon Apollo. You're smarter than that." Percy said.

"Apollo replied, 'I was bored. I Apollogize.' with the most innocent look on his face. Needless to say, Zeus wasn't happy and he made Apollo go without saying haikus for a week. I guess Apollo didn't mind though, because he high-fived Hermes."

Percy was laughing. He never thought the gods had a sense of humor. Poseidon found himself laughing at the memory too. The knot in his gut untied at seeing Percy laugh.

"And," Poseidon began after he caught his breath, "when we were all in Kronos' stomach, my siblings and I, you can only imagine how cramped it got."

"I bet. I think I would've lost my mind." Percy sympathized, imagining being stuck in someone's stomach from birth to adulthood. Man, that had to suck.

"Yes, well, anyway," Poseidon began again, "at some point, I think Hades did lose his mind. He began trying to climb up Kronos' throat. Of course Kronos felt this, and decided to sedate him by drinking about fifty gallons of wine. Now, to a titan, this did nothing. He probably didn't even get tipsy. But to Hades, a god who'd never had alcohol before, well, I'll let you use your imagination on that one." Poseidon finished with a chuckle and a smirk at the memory.

Percy imagined a very drunk and incoherent Hades. He didn't know whether he would've been laughing or scared. Would he be slurring his speech? Somehow, his thoughts wandered to what kind of drunk Hades was. Was he a happy drunk? Or maybe a sad one? Maybe he was one of those that do stupid stuff and then not remember it the next day.

Percy laughed, wishing he could see his uncle drunk. Poseidon smiled fondly at the memory.

After a minute, they both sat down in the sand. Poseidon watched the sunset, nervousness resuming it's place in his chest. He wished he could tell it to go away, but it was demanding to be felt. Questions and doubt soon followed, and Poseidon's happy demeanor vanished with the sun.

How would they survive? He hadn't bothered to tell Percy about the predators that probably came out at night as well. Didn't deserts have coyotes, snakes, and scorpions? They didn't even have any weapons to defend themselves.

"Dad, look!" Percy exclaimed excitedly, oblivious to Poseidon's inner quarrel. He grabbed Poseidon's forearm in one hand and was pointing in a direction with his other. Poseidon looked, and saw something he knew was a gift from Hera.

Sitting under a cactus were two backpacks.

Without a word, Poseidon stood back up and ran to them, Percy hot on his heels. He got to one and opened it, going through the supplies inside. There wasn't much, but there was a canteen full of water, some protein bars, and a blanket.

Digging through everything, Poseidon got to the bottom and found a pen.

'A pen? What, was she going to write us an IOU?'

_Poseidon, Sorry about the trouble. Here's a pen. _

_ XOXO, _

_ Hera_

Poseidon thought sarcastically bitter, upset she'd give them something so useless. As he was putting it back in the bag, he stopped cold. Quickly pulling it back out, he uncapped it (pointing away from his body) only to reveal Riptide.

"My sword!" Percy noticed, and took the hilt from Poseidon's hands. Percy examined the weapon that had saved his life so many times to make sure Hera hadn't hurt it. He checked the sharpness and looked for any scratches on the blade that hadn't previously been there.

"Percy, perhaps I should wield it. It is our only weapon and nightfall is upon us..." Poseidon told Percy. Percy gave him his best Nico-death-glare that he could muster.

"I know what I'm doing, Dad. Maybe if I was still twelve, yeah, I'd let you have it. But I'm seventeen now and Riptide is my lifeline. It's saved me so many times. I know how it works, what it's capable of, and my own limitations with it. I know how to fight, Dad." Percy replied emotionlessly as he stared at Riptide. Sighing, he looked back up at Poseidon. "I can protect us, Dad." Percy finished.

Poseidon held his son's gaze for a bit, but eventually his eyes became soft. "Okay, son." He caved. Poseidon knew he was making a mistake. He was putting his life in his teenage son's hands. No matter how experienced Percy may be, he was still apt to make mistakes. He tends to do that.

But seeing his son smile at that moment was worth whatever the night may bring.

Zeus and Jason

Even with night vision, the cave could still get dark at times. And with no sense of time, Jason's body was confused about whether he should be tired or not. He figured they'd been in here for days, but the realistic side of him told him it had only been a few hours.

It's not like they were too bad off. The cave had streams of water that poured through cracks in the wall. The cave could get chilly, but that was about it. The only problem they had was food. What were they going to do when they got hungry? Just knowing there was no available sustenance made Jason's stomach growl. He put his hand over it to shut it up.

"Looks like there's another incline up ahead. It's headed down, so maybe,"

"Zeus, what are we going to do about food?" Jason's voice echoed. He hated how, even when they whispered, their voices would echo. He didn't want to hear his own voice repeating what he'd just said seconds before. But it was one of those things he'd had to just get over.

Zeus was standing at the edge of the incline. He had one hand on the ceiling and the other resting on his upper thigh. He was breathing hard because of all the rocks they had to climb over. He gazed down into the cave. Although Jason expected his expression to be harsh, it wasn't. Mostly, Zeus just looked like he wanted his powers back so he could blow the place up.

"I don't know." Zeus replied. He didn't bother to look at Jason. He only stared into the deep, downward-incline of the cave. Why was he more obsessed with what was in there than with surviving? Technically they didn't have to move anywhere, or travel deeper into the cave. But they did need food, and if Zeus wasn't going to provide, Jason would.

Jason scanned the rock walls of the cave, looking for something relatively edible. Moss was growing up the wall on one side near a small, trickling, waterfall from a crack in the wall. It seemed like if you took a pickaxe to the walls of the cave, you'd get flooded.

Jason had his experience drowning in the Nymphaeum. He didn't want to do it again.

"What do you think is down there?" Zeus questioned, staring into the dark pit. He grabbed a rock that appeared to be a pretty good handhold. He leaned over the edge more and peered into the pit.

"Probably skeletons from people falling to their deaths doing the exact thing you're doing now. If that rock topples or you slip, you're done for." Jason informed, wondering how his father could have such little common sense.

"Don't worry about me, boy. Anything you know of that lives in caves?" Zeus replied, actually having the audacity to chastise Jason for caring. Well, sorry.

Jason only scoffed at Zeus before realizing he'd have to just give it up. Zeus was too stubborn to understand that Jason wasn't trying to belittle him or act like he was in charge. To be honest, he wanted his dad to lead. Jason didn't want to be responsible for both of their safety. But Zeus' choices made it hard to trust him, and Jason wasn't about to follow his father's orders if he didn't trust him.

"Um, well, nothing really. I don't study up on my monsters. I just fight them and learn about them as I go. I didn't know they had specific places where they hang out." Jason said, lifting his hand to touch one of the glowing blue mushrooms that seemed to adorn the cave. He felt like he had to touch one; like if he didn't, his life would end. Or worse, he'd get his memory erased and placed in a whole new world again. He felt as if touching the mushroom would end all his problems. And as his hand got closer, as the tips of his fingers were about to brush the mushroom's blue-glowing-domed-head, Jason was startled back into reality.

"Hey, Sparky, what are you doing? Come over here." Zeus ordered. Jason blinked a few times as his transcendent state diminished. His heartbeat began to return to normal and he started breathing again.

'Woah. Note to self: shrooms equals bad things.' Jason chided himself.

"Jason?"

"Sorry, Zeus." Jason said as he looked to his father, his eyes still wide from the brief experience.

Zeus got a strange look on his face. He looked between Jason's wide blue orbs and the mushrooms. He didn't know what had happened, but he didn't like what it did to his son. "C'mere, boy." Zeus got back onto the actual ground of the cave. Well, he wasn't hanging over the edge of the chasm anymore.

As Jason walked...stumbled...toward him, Zeus noticed his son's shaking hands, the paranoid way he'd look into every deep, dark shadow of the cave as if someone were going to pop out, the quick, shallow breathing, and the slight blue glow that covered his body.

When Jason finally reached him, Zeus put his hands on Jason's shoulders and looked him over. He didn't like this. He didn't like this at all. Jason didn't even touch that stuff. If this is what it did to him when there was no physical contact made...

Zeus decided there would be no close proximities to the strange blue fungi. Definitely no touching.

Jason slowly came back to his senses. He'd felt strange, like he was leaving his body. He felt like someone was pushing him, his soul, out. As he had walked to Zeus, he felt like he was going to float away. Now, that might sound ironic, but when he wasn't in control of it, it scared him. He felt as if he wasn't the one who was really in control of his body, that someone else was pulling the strings to move his legs forward.

But when Zeus had put his hands on Jason's shoulders, Jason felt like he was being anchored back into his body. He felt in control again, and the strings had been cut.

"Are you okay?" Zeus asked, not sure why he was asking. What was this strange feeling in his gut and chest? Guilt? No, he'd felt guilt before and this wasn't it. Worry? No, that wasn't a strong enough word.

Concern. Yes. Yes, that had to be it.

"Ye-Yeah. I-I'm f-fine, I guess." Jason stuttered. He was having trouble thinking of words to say. Hell, he was just having trouble thinking.

Zeus' eyebrows knit together. He knew Jason had never tripped over his own tongue before. The boy was always well-spoken.

Eyeing the mushrooms growing on the wall of the cave one last time, Zeus put his hand on Jason's back and herded him away from it, deeper into the cave. He couldn't shake the feeling that he'd seen those mushrooms before; heard about them or something. But his mind wasn't filling in the blanks of his memory, and this irritated him to no end.

"Uhhhgggg," Jason moaned beside him, putting a hand to his head.

"Jason, what's wrong?" Zeus asked. He knew in the back of his mind that even if Jason told him, there would be nothing he could do about it. It's not like Zeus was a healer. That was Apollo. They didn't even have a first aid kit to work with.

"I-I don't know. It's all a blur. What happened? Where are we? I don't remember walking into the cave." Jason stated, looking around as if just noticing his surroundings.

"I don't know what that mushroom is, but how about you don't mess with it again, hmm?" Zeus said. Even though he ended it with a question, Jason knew Zeus wasn't asking him. He was demanding, and for once, Jason was going to agree with his father.

He nodded his head, then immediately said, "Yeah." Wasn't body language the reason they were in this mess? Because Zeus it too high and mighty for a head nod? Well, Jason guessed if he wanted to place blame (on someone who wasn't Hera) he'd have to blame Nico. He didn't want to. He'd felt an overwhelming sense of protectiveness toward Nico ever since Nico had opened up to him. Jason now thought it was his duty to protect him, even if Nico didn't want or like it. Which he didn't.

Jason found himself clenching his fists at the memory of Hades attacking Nico. Jason was powerless to help Nico, and it hurt him. Hades had no idea what Nico had been through, nor did he care. What gave him the right to take his son's life? If you don't like your son, fine, but you have no right to steal their future and their hope for happiness in it.

"Jason, stop blanking out on me." Zeus said as he shook Jason's shoulder.

"Sorry. I was just thinking about Nico. Do you think he's okay?" Jason asked sincerely. Zeus raised an eyebrow at Jason's question. He found it an anomaly. Why was Jason worried about Hades' boy when he should be worried about himself? But Zeus saw the look on Jason's face. A look of desperation to hear what he wanted to hear. Zeus sighed.

"I couldn't imagine he wouldn't be. Even I have to admit that boy is a fighter. He's been through a lot and has come out clean on the other side. He's fine, Jason." Zeus said, hoping for his son's sake that he was telling the truth. He had no idea if Hades and his kid were okay. He had no idea about Poseidon and his annoying spawn either. He didn't know why, but this bothered him.

Jason nodded his head, hoping Zeus didn't see. He looked into the bleak darkness of the cave ahead of them. He was waiting for a fight. A fight with monsters in there, a falling out with his dad, everything. He was waiting for everything that lied in that darkness. But right now, all he could do was hope that Nico was okay. The kid didn't deserve to go through more than he already had.

Hades and Nico

All Nico had been listening to for the past thirty minutes was Hades shifting through decomposing papers and scraps of material inside the desks of the office. They hadn't left the room they had come into, and Nico was beginning to get antsy.

He had helped somewhat, but Hades seemed to be annoyed with Nico whenever Nico had asked if they needed whatever he was holding. He'd hold up an old cloth that was coming apart at the seams and ask if they needed it, to which Hades would respond with an eye roll and a curt 'no'.

Eventually Nico had given up and sat down on an old computer chair. He watched as Hades would travel back and forth across the room, checking everything for anything they could use. He'd come up empty so far. Nico guessed whoever had been here before had picked the place clean, but this only caused more anxiety when he thought about why someone would have to do that. What was that monster out there? Was it the thing everyone had been trying to avoid? Nico couldn't exactly blame them. He wanted to pee his pants from just a thrown trash can and a scream from the creature.

Nico shook his head to get rid of his thoughts about the monster. If he continued to think about it, he'd only make himself too afraid to leave the room he had deemed safe.

Instead, Nico looked at the torn carpet under his feet. It was thin carpet, practically concrete with a foam yoga mat on top to make you think it was okay to fall on. It looked to be grey, but that could be because of time and dust. Nico guessed it might have once been a dark blue with rainbow swirls; you know, the typical ugly office carpet that everyone secretly liked and looked at when they wanted to get away from their stress. There was grass growing in it, causing Nico to believe this place had been abandoned for awhile.

Nico sighed when he realized his feet weren't touching the ground. It sucked to be fourteen but be the size of a twelve-year-old. Accepting his size, Nico decided to just start swinging his legs and count the number of colorful swirls in the carpet. It might be faded, but Nico was still able to pick out the different colors.

"All right, I give up. We're not finding anything useful in here." Hades declared, placing his hands on his hips.

'It's about time he figured that out.' Nico thought to himself. He rolled his eyes, but knew Hades wouldn't see because Nico was still looking at the ground.

"Well, boy? Ready to try across the hall?" Hades asked, although it was obvious in his tone he wasn't really asking.

"Sure, Hades." Nico said and stood up. Hades walked over to the barricade of desks that were blocking the door to the hallway. He scanned it to see which one he could move without toppling the whole thing and attracting the monster with the noise. Deciding on a desk to the left that seemed to serve no purpose, Hades gripped it and lifted it so only two legs would be dragging across the ground. He then moved to the next one and worked from there.

Nico watched Hades. Even without a catalyst, Nico was angry at him. He couldn't help it. All he did when he saw his father was think of all the horrible things Hades has said and done to him.

What really made him upset, however, was that Hades would do nice things for him. And those nice things would serve as some kind of permanent good deed that Hades would constantly bring up when Nico was upset at him.

'Remember that time I gave you your sword? Or let you summon all those spirits? Or showed you Camp Jupiter? It took a lot of trust to do that!' Nico clenched his fists as his father's words rang through his head.

Nico jumped when he heard a giant crash and a grunt from Hades. An avalanche of desks fell down one after another. Nico began to cough and started waving the air in front of his face so he wouldn't be breathing in dust. Hades was doing the same.

"I'm guessing you're not very good at geometry or you would've been able to tell which desks held the thing together." Nico remarked between coughs. Hades gave him a questioning side-glare before looking back at his mess and shaking his head.

"What does geometry have to do with anything?" He asked as he began to move the remaining desks away from the door.

"Haven't you ever played Jenga?" Nico asked.

"I don't have time for games, boy." Hades grunted.

After ten minutes of uncomfortable silence, Hades finally got the last desk out of the way of the door. He breathed a sigh of relief. He'd started to go stir crazy in that room. He put his ear to the door to listen to the other side. He only heard the squeaking of the chair Nico was. The thing squeaked every time he moved, and Nico had started kicking his legs about fifteen minutes ago. Hades was impressed he hadn't absolutely lost his mind and back-handed the boy for being so annoying.

Hades pushed back from the door and reached for the dusty knob. He heard the chair squeak one last time as Nico got up. Now he was standing behind him. Hades sighed at Nico's cowardice and turned the knob.

Propped up against the wall right across the hall was a corpse. The smell hit them, and Nico gagged at both it and the gruesome sight of the dead body. Hades eyebrows knit together and his eyes went wide. He'd seen some disgusting things, but nothing compared to this.

It had been ripped to shreds around its abdomen and torso by what looked like five long, sharp claw marks. Its innards were pushing through a hole in its stomach and it was sitting in a puddle of blood that was at least three feet in diameter. It was missing an arm and there was a hole in its chest. The hole was right where the body's heart should've been.

But all that didn't bother Hades. What bothered him was how fresh the body looked.

"I wonder what he died from." Hades told Nico sarcastically. The boy didn't look at all amused. He gaped at Hades before shaking his head and stuffing his hands in his pockets. Hades was surprised when Nico actually walked closer to the body. Hades' smirk disappeared. He didn't care, but he really didn't want Nico to see something like this. The kid was only fourteen.

Nico crouched next to the corpse, doing his best to ignore the smell of rotten meat. He studied it, every claw mark and every missing organ. The monster seemed to like hearts and right arms.

Nico couldn't shake away the feeling of compassion for this guy. He probably had a family he was trying to provide for, and this was how he had died. But in the middle of Nico's grief for the dead stranger, he saw something he wanted to get.

Maybe the guy wouldn't be providing for his family, but he could definitely help them.

"Hades, he has a backpack. Think there's anything in it?" Nico asked. He looked up at his father who had his arms crossed and a disgusted look on his face. When he heard Nico's question, however, his demeanor changed.

"Maybe. We're...going to have to move him away from the wall." Hades wisely informed. Nico rolled his eyes. He knew that.

"Okay, you move him and I'll grab the backpack." Nico said.

"Bull schist. I'm not touching that." Hades said, looking green and nauseous.

"Well, neither am I!" Nico argued, standing up from his crouched position and crossing his arms.

"Well then, I guess we don't get the backpack." Hades said angrily. He wasn't going to touch that vomit-inducing mess of human remains. Why should he have to? Nico was perfectly capable of moving it.

"Would you quit acting like a child? You're the adult!" Nico screamed, fury filling his veins. Hades was the most immature person he'd ever had the misfortune of having to deal with. Why was he being so childish? Wouldn't most parents not want their kid to touch something like that?

"You first."

Nico wanted to scream. He wanted to grip his hair and just scream, but he knew that probably wasn't the brightest of ideas, lest he wanted to attract the beast. Instead, he did what anyone in his position would do. He'd be the mature one. Nico stomped behind Hades where a cave-in of the floor above them had created a dead-end. There, he found an old metal rod. He assumed it came from inside the walls of the building to keep the concrete together. Anger still fueling him, Nico stomped back over to the corspe.

"You'd better grab this backpack." Nico announced, and shoved the rod behind the dead guy's back. He hefted it forwards with a grunt and the body bent over. Hades glared at Nico before slowly crouching down and slid the shoulder straps down.

It didn't take long for Hades to realize Nico had the better job. He didn't even have to touch the thing. Hades had to maneuver its arms so he could take the backpack off. He slid one strap off. As he was about to slide the other off, he suddenly felt a pressure pin his arm against the wall.

He felt it before he realized what Nico had done. The brat of a boy had let the decomposing body fall onto his arm. Hades screamed in outrage.

"AHHHHRRRGGG. Nico!"

"Yeah?" Nico asked calmly, leaning against the metal rod for support and checking his nails for dirt. His nails were really dirty.

"I'm going to kill you!" Hades pulled his arm out from behind the body and held the well-deserved backpack.

"I slipped." Nico replied simply. He looked at Hades and tried not to smile. Hades' pale-green plaid shirt and jeans now had blood on them. Part of his arm did too, because his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows.

"Bull shit you slipped." Hades muttered and set the backpack on the ground. He crouched next to it and opened it. Nico crouched beside him. He hadn't realized how worn the backpack was until now.

Inside, Hades found a nine millimeter pistol with four bullets, a can of peaches that was twenty years pass its due date, a flashlight, and some sort of filtering mask so someone could breathe easily in smoke.

Hades turned the flashlight on. He realized it was one of those flashlights you shake to recharge. Well, that will probably come in handy.

Hades closed the backpack and secured the flashlight inside a strap in the front so he didn't have to hold it.

"So, what now? We have a gun, a flashlight, a Halloween mask, and food we should probably throw out." Nico said.

"No. No, this guy knew more about this place than we do. If he has expired food like this, food probably isn't too common. Everything in this backpack, we're keeping." Hades replied.

"Okay. But that doesn't exactly answer my question. What do we do now?"

"We find where he came from. There's got to be more people around here."

"Hades, this place is deserted because of that...that thing we heard. No one is here."

"There's always a survivor group, Nico. Haven't you seen the movies and shows?"

Nico sighed. "Fine. Can we just leave? I don't like the look on this dude's face." He said, eyeing the corpse.

"Nico, his face is shredded. How can you tell the look on it?"

"You know what I mean."

"Do I?" Hades asked with a smirk. Nico rolled his eyes and sighed again. He hated his dad's inappropriate joking.

"Is now the time for this?" He asked angrily.

Hades fed off the negative energy from Nico, getting upset as well. "Look, you have no right to get mad at me! You dropped a desk and a dead body on me!"

"The desk didn't hit you!" Nico defended, but then felt stupid when he realized he'd just admitted to dropping it on him.

Hades' eye twitched and he raised his hand to punch Nico's cheek. Nico's eyes became wide in realization before he shut them tight and clenched his own fists, preparing himself for the pain.

It was then that both of them froze. The scream from outside was heard again. It sounded like it was in the building. Nico gasped and jumped toward Hades. Hades pulled out the pistol he'd shoved into the back of his jeans. Honestly, he'd never used a gun before, and was worried about his aim, but he was more worried about the monster being nearby.

Silence filled the air after the scream, only the quick, shallow breaths from the duo could be heard. Hades was turning every direction to look for it with the light from the flashlight.

"Is it gone?" Nico whispered. He was scanning every corner. His eyes couldn't look around fast enough to keep up with his adrenalin and pounding heart.

"No. It knows we're in here. It's hunting us." Hades responded. Nico forgot his rage toward his father minutes before. He pressed himself against Hades and clenched his shirt in fear. He'd been hunted before. He was a demigod. But seeing the damage this thing had done to the corpse, hearing its scream, it frightened him. He didn't even know what he was up against, whereas usually he did.

"Let's go. We need to get out of here." Hades whispered, prying Nico's fingers off his shirt.

"Agreed."

They traveled down the hallway, looking for the easiest way out. Thunder boomed overhead and lightning flashed outside. Hard rain hit the windows of the building.

If they had turned around, Hades and Nico would've seen two yellow eyes watching them walk down the hallway.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry for any mistakes. I was so excited to post this I didn't really edit it. Same goes for the last chapter. Maybe some time in the future I'll fix them. Please review!**


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